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Equal Treatment Input

On 26 March 2014 the new National General Collective Agreement was concluded in Greece by the five major social partners as signatory parties:GSEE (Greek General Confederation of Labour), GSEVEE (Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen, and Merchants), ESEE (National Condfederation of Hellenic Commerce), SEV (Hellenic Federation of Industries), and SETE (Association of Greek Tourism Enteprises).

Article 2 of the new National General Collective Agreement now sets the institutional framework for regulating a crucial issue, which has been a long-standing demand of GSEVEE raised at the highest lavel, regarding the provision of parental leave for childcare purposes (by the form of reduced hours) to fathers employeed in the private sector, in the case that the mother is a self-employed person. This right has been already provided for with a relevant regulation for fathers employeed in the public sector, while the documents that they present as an evidence for their spouse exercising a liberal profession are defined by the Opinion no. 462/2008 of the State Legal Council Department E of the13th October 2008, consisting of the following:

  1. A certification by the competent tax authority or the relevant chamber to verify the engagement in a certain activity.
  2. A certification by the relevant social security body which explicitly shows the private employment exercised.
  3. Copy of salary statement by the competent tax authority showing the profession exercised, stating the possible income earned by it.
  4. Any other appropriate evidence.

These documents could be also used as an evidence in the case of fathers employeed in the private sector in order to prove that their spouse is in a self-employed capacity and  to make use of reduced hours from the first day after their spouse has given birth.

The lack of the provision of this specific leave in the private sector had been a violation of the relevant provisions of European Law (which takes precedence over national laws), as interpreted by the European Court of Justice, and, in particular, ECJ in its judgment C-104/09 (Roca Alvarez) has ordered that the scope of the 1st Directive 76/207/EEC of the 9th February 1976 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regardsaccess to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions prohibits national measures which provide that working mothers who are employees are entitled to leave, in various forms, during the first nine months after the birth of their child, while working fathers who are also employees are not entitled to such a right with the exception of the case that the mother of their child also works as an employee.

 

 

  



 

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